Beacon Hills ♚ TMR x TW

5; dead ends

Hospital doors slammed open as the four teenagers rushed into the building, eyes wide with panic, the one in a red flannel trailing behind the others with a noticeable limp. They reached the front desk where Melissa stood, her eyes stuck to the computer screen in front of her. She only looked up when she heard her son calling her name in a frenzy.

"Mom, where's Deaton?"

Her eyes darted to his, teeth clamping down on her bottom lip. "I'll take you to him." She exited from behind the desk and waved them on before almost jogging down a long hall. She was distracted by rushing she didn't notice Thomas was out of his room and that Scott shivering.

The five entered an elevator, Melissa pressing the number 2 on the wall of buttons. The doors closed and the machine began moving.

"He's alive and he's stable but he's been shot multiple times. I-" Melissa finally realized Thomas was with them, dressed. "What the hell are you doing out of your room?" She looked back to Scott, noticing him shivering, clothes soaked all the way through. "What the hell did you four do?"

None of them wanted to tell her what they'd done. It was dangerous, but essential.

They reached the correct floor in mere moments. Melissa dropped the subject but sent them all a stern glare as the doors opened. The group rushed out and straight to door 205. Melissa opened the door and let them all in.

As Thomas hobbled into the room, the first thing he noticed was the quiet. He hated hospital rooms and was lucky enough to be leaving his own very soon. At least he assumed it would be soon, he could practically walk like a normal person now. His eyes scanned the room with help from the dim light that shone above them. His dad was already there, sitting in the chair beside the bed and looking very disheveled. When he looked at the bed, Thomas eyes went wide. Deaton's eyes were only partly closed. He was bloody and was bandaged in more than one place.

"Oh my god..." Kira whispered as the rest of the group entered. Lydia's hand flew to her mouth, gasping softly at the man's state. Scott was close to tears. Melissa gave her son a hug before she dismissed herself from the room to return to work.

Thomas stepped around the bed to stand next his dad, unable to tear his eyes from the wounded veterinarian.

"I'm not even sure where he came from... He just burst into the station like a mad-man, blabbering about some book and a tree as he bled from six gunshot wounds." His dad spoke up in the quiet room, no doubt feeling the need to explain what happened.

A book and a tree. Thomas wondered what book was so important to Deaton that he got shot five times for. The tree could be the nemeton. He stepped closer to the bed, staring at Deaton's hand. His fingers loosely laid atop a lump under the blanket. Thomas cocked his head to the side, daring to reach closer and touch the blanket, beginning to move it.

A hand clasped around Thomas' wrist and when he looked up, he saw Deaton's eyes wide open.

"Protect the book." He managed to rasp out few words before his eyes drifted shut once again and his grip on Thomas' wrist loosened.

Thomas' heart sped, not daring to move his hand yet. After a moment, when he was sure Deaton was completely out, he gathered enough courage to push the blanket enough to see what caused the lump.

A key.

He grabbed the item, holding it up to the light. It was unnaturally large for a key, being almost as big as his hand. He could just barely make out a few lines on the surface, shaped almost like snakes. He furrowed his brows, wondering why the hell Deaton was always so cryptic with his words.